Van's Doll Treasures primarily features Barbie and other fashion dolls her size. I make and sell 1/6 scale doll furniture for Barbie and Ken. The link to my Etsy shop is available on the right hand side. I prepare dioramas and videos that feature my doll families.

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Renewed Spirit and Stories

About 3am this morning I was perusing pictures of my old stories and I got excited. I had so much fun doing those dios and the stories. It was a lot of work, but seeing the pictures brought back great memories. So....I decided to get back to dios and stories. Ever since I moved my dolls to the basement, I've done less stories. This is mainly because I STILL have not organized the basement like I need to. Doing dios is so much easier when you know exactly where everything is. So today I began the process of organizing all the doll stuff. I made a great start and it won't be long before I can set up new dios. I can't wait to see what Darius and Nikki are up to. I wonder if they are still together. We will of course see lots more of Rod and Danielle, and unfortunately, Melanie, too. Lol. Stay tuned.

Naisha and Kimaya are returning home after a day of shopping. Naisha left the bags in the car. She's planning to send her boyfriend out to grab them. Last time we saw them they were house hunting. They settled on this fixer-upper. It was the best value for their limited funds.

I've started fixing up the bedroom for Racquel's mom and dad. I still have a lot to do.

Don't worry. I will make sure Lena stays on track with her designing and sewing. Today she sewed a few more sample pieces. Her purple and white maxi dress doesn't look that great in this picture, but it's just something for her to do laundry and relax around the house. She tried her hand at a few knit pieces. She made a striped shirt and a mini circular skirt. Keep in mind, she is just sewing at this point. She's not putting outfits together. That will come later.

She made a slightly longer circular skirt for herself, which she can't wait to make in a different fabric. Maybe a nice cotton.

Smaller Places - Thanks. Glad you like the new pieces. The key for consistent stories for me, is being able to quickly put up and take down the dios. I used to be able to do a dio in 15 - 30 mins. I have to get back to doing that.

KMQ - Hello little fashionista! I hopped over to your Barbie blog, that I didn't know existed. I love your fashions! So cute. Looking forward to seeing more on your blog. Hope to see a Follow button, too.

Georgia Girl - Okay, okay. She will wear the purple dress out to some casual outing. I know Nikki and Darius are one of your favorite couples. I'm looking forward to seeing what they are up to, if anything.

Yay, stories. We all enjoy your stories. But yes, make sure Lena keeps on track with her designing, her work so far looks cute. I'm sure you can find a way of working it into your stories, just don't let her get in trouble with the bridal boutique.

Carrickters - My sewing machine is on my nightstand. That way I, I mean Lena, can roll out of bed any hour of the night and sew something. Jackie, (co-owner of the bridal shop) is very supportive of Lena's side career. We are not cutthroat here in Morristown.

Glad to hear you will be doing more stories. I know what you mean about moving the doll stuff in the basement. That is also where mine is and I also have so much to do down there! Looking forward to catching up on everyone. BTW, I like both of the outfits. The Maxi dress looks really comfortable and the skirt and top are really cute too.

Phyllis - I really need to get some temperature control in the basement, but I have so many other places my money needs to go. The more comfortable it is down there, the more time I will spend. I almost decided to move everything back to my family room. Changed my mind on that for the moment.

Glad to hear you're getting back to the stories & dios, I know myself looking at old pics how much fun it is..but oh the pain of organization! I organized my doll room last year by taking drastic measures- getting rid of an old dresser to make more room, and going radical with the shelves so props would be at hand, and dolls in tubs to protect them, and so on. Then the minis! I need to reorganize what I organized! Glad to see you getting back into the swing with the dolls, I find I get squirrely if I don't get dolltime!

Lisa - I can tell from a few of your past posts, that organizing is something you too are constantly working on. Sadly it's one of those things that has to be done daily to keep up with it. I'm always trying to improve how I store my stuff.

You must be feeling better if you are up for re-organizing the basement so I am very glad that your health has improved. Also very glad to hear that more stories will be forthcoming. I really like the circle skirt Lena made for herself.

limbe dolls - Great news. Yesterday I found the perfect radiant heater for the basement, so now I will be a lot more comfortable working down there. I used it yesterday and it makes a world of difference. I am feeling better, but I still have my challenges (as we all do), but I just have to keep it moving.

Ms. Leo - I can't function if the doll room isn't organized to some degree. I think she is going to remake another maxi dress with a fuller bottom. I think that's what's throwing that dress off in the pictures.

DBG - The odd years seem to be my best years. The even ones have proven to be difficult. I hope I haven't just jinxed 2015. I want to invite one of my friends to come help with the organizing, but she has a tendency to take things without asking for them. So I can't risk it.

Cindi - Oh I'm excited to see the new sweater! I found out yesterday that one of my nurses "can crochet anything". Her words. Of course I started trying to get tips from her. She's never crocheted for dolls before, so I'm taking her a doll next week so she can give it a try. Lol. I will have everyone I come across doing something with dolls.

billa's dolls - Thanks. I've jumped head first into the new stories, so it feels good to back up the renewed feeling with some actual work. Lena aspires to be a great designer and seamtress like you. I told her to keep plugging away at it.

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Written Material and photographed images, unless otherwise noted, are copyrighted by VansDollTreasures. Please do not copy or use any of the information here without expressed written permission from me, Vanessa Morrison. Links back to this site are always welcome.

About Me

Graduate of Penn State University with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. Worked as an engineer and manager for about 12 years. Currently work as a Realtor in Atlanta. Have loved dolls most of my life. I began collecting over 20 yrs ago.